Meet Don

State Senator Don Balfour of Snellville was first elected to the Georgia Senate by Gwinnett County in 1992 (representing Berkmar, Brookwood, Collins Hill, Grayson, Parkview, Central Gwinnett, and South Gwinnett) and has served consecutively for 18 years. He is the longest serving Republican in the State Senate.

Senator Balfour, a Republican, is Chairman of the powerful Senate Rules Committee. In addition, he serves on the Appropriations Committee, Education Committee, and the Health and Human Services Committee.

He is an executive with the Waffle House, Inc., and has worked for them for over 25 years. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

Senator Balfour was elected President of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the premier state legislative organization. He is the first legislator from Georgia to hold the position of NCSL President since it was founded in 1975.
Senator Balfour serves on the Executive Committees of the NCSL, the Council of State Governments, the Southern Legislative Conference, and the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee. He is also a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

In 2000, Senator Balfour passed a bill that froze property tax values for Gwinnett County homeowners, eliminating backdoor property tax increases. It has been estimated to have saved citizens of Gwinnett County over 1.2 billion dollars since it went into effect.

In 2005, Senator Balfour led the fight to pass the third toughest ethics law in the nation. That same year, Balfour was also heavily involved with the fight to pass Tort Reform in Georgia.

Then, in 2006, he led the fight to pass one of the strongest eminent domain laws in the nation to protect property owners.

Over the past few years, Senator Balfour has worked to strengthen laws against illegal immigrants in Georgia. Today, Georgia has some of the strongest immigration laws in the nation.

Senator Balfour is a graduate of Bob Jones University with a BS in Accounting and Fairleigh Dickinson University with a Masters of Business Administration. He and his wife, Ginny, are the proud parents of Trey, who is serving in the Georgia National Guard in Afghanistan. They attend Grace Fellowship Church in Snellville.